would say 95% of what i hear from women is help, please help. >> and out in ohio, bubba and the boss. bruce springsteen and bill clinton hitting the trail in ohio to fire up support for barack obama. >> he can't even say whether he would sign a law which is already on the books. >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. today both campaigns are stepping up their attempt to win over undecided voters, the women voters. the obama campaign sees openings after tuesday's debate. romney campaign on defense but fighting back hard complete with a bus tour via women who used to work for mitt romney. joining me chris cillizza of postpolitics.com. the senz both campaigns have the obama campaign thinks they gained some ground out of the debate that mitt romney gave

them some openings. mitt romney in their campaign as of yesterday firing off press releases sending out surrogates. they felt they were playing defense. this is president obama today in new hampshire. >> by the way, we want our sons to thrive in math and science and engineering. but we also want our daughters to thrive in those fields, too. we don't have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven, young women who can learn and excel in these fields right now. and when these young women graduate, i want them to receive equal pay for equal work. >> arguments over the economy, the romney campaign, chris, has been saying that this is an economic issue. president obama trying to respond to that today. and then the arguments over abortion and over, you know, contraception, what he said about contraception.

the romney camp in the last two weeks come up with this ad and just started airing it. this is mitt romney now on abortion. >> turns out romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape incest or to save a mother's life. the issue's important to me. but i'm concerned about the debt our children will be left with. >> before we go with the new obama ad that has been unveiled to counteract that, what is go on here? set the stage. >> well, look, andrea, it is no secret the last republican to win the female vote in the presidential race was george h.w. bush 1988, he won it 50-49 over michael dukakis. democrats won it in every election since by varying margins. president obama won by 13 over mccain in 2008. john kerry won by three over george w. bush. this is incredibly important because women, for the last six or seven presidential elections,

have composed a majority of the vote in the broad national electorate. i think this is a play broadly for women. it's a narrow play, too. this is fight over suburban women who probably are not thrilled with the state of economy but tend to be socially moderate to socially liberal. it's a fight over what matters more to them. is it abortion and contraception or is as the romney campaign is gambling heavily is it as you saw in the ad more, look, the economy is not a male issue, it's not a female issue. this is making everyone struggle including women. that's the back and forth interplay here. >> and now the obama team has come back at mitt romney and we know he was certainly emphasizing the more conservative view on during the facing off against santorum. this is the obama campaign ad today. >> seen this from mitt romney? take a look at this. >> if roe v. wade was overturned

congress passed a federal ban on all abortions and came to your desk, would you sign it. >> i'd be delighted to sign that bill. >> banning all abortions. >> ibd decide be delighted to s that bill. >> trying to mislead us, that's wrong. >> ann romney asked about this on "the view" with the ladies of "the view" today. >> you know, the good news is i'm not running for office and i don't have to say what i feel. but i am pro-life. i'm happy to say that. mitt has always been a pro-life person. he governed when he ran as a pro-choice. but it -- when a decision came across that desk. >> explain that to me. >> when a decision came across his desk, to use embryos for experimentation, he -- >> stem cell research. >> he could not have on his conscience creating human life for experimentation. >> chris, this is complicated for the romney campaign because i mean, stem cell resent divide

the republican party. it's divided the, you know, anti-abortion movement. but nancy reagan, years ago, because of her passionate support for alzheimer's research the most prominent republican to come out in facvor of stem cell research and mccain as well. >> that ann romney clip is why the romney campaign more broadly does not want to spend time talking about abortion. number one, it's a loser for them among the suburban women we're talking about. these are not women who tend to be pro-life. and, number two, because it's too complicated politically to explain, well, he was always pro-life but he governed as a pro-choice govern in massachusetts because that's what kind of he felt the people of the state wanted. he didn't want to impose personal beliefs except in this one situation. it's complicated. you're going down this rabbit hole where politically there's no good to be done there.

they have to try to turn this debate and say, look, women, this isn't about -- don't let them put you in a box and say all you care about is abortion, all you care about is contraception, all you care about is equal pay, whatever the one issue is. you should care about barack obama said he would make the economy better. he hasn't. it's hurt you. it's hurt your family. and it will hurt your kids if you are them down the line. that's the argument they have to make. >> let me take issue with one thing. for women, equal pay, it's a pocketbook issue. >> i agree. i think -- what i would say -- >> that's not social issue. >> what the romney campaign is trying to do, don't get into -- don't get into these single issues. look broadly at what mitt romney has said he will do and what barack obama has done. that's not to disparage any of the issues they're talking about. he's trying to talk more broad, philosophical point. >> the challenge for them is how to make that argument and not deal with the equal pay issue.

>> and clearly lilly ledbetter is one of the best president obama mentioned in the debate, one of the best talking points to that suburban women group and that's why they're mentioning it in the debate and on every campaign stump he makes. >> chris cillizza, thank you. see you later. >> thank you. >> talk to you at the end of the show. to the campaign trial. mitt romney is in new york, ann romney is there as well because the romneys and president obama, well mitt romney and speak at t dinner. it's the archdiocese owe sis of new york in charge. nbc's peter alexander also in new york for that event. hey, peter, good to see you. first of all, mitt romney is going to be speaking at the al smith dinner. president obama is going to go on jon stewart, tape jon stewart "the daly show" beforehand. it's a humerus evening.

we know what kind of evenings these are like. this comes after a debate which made it clear these two men don't like each other. >> reporter: imagine what that conversations's going to be like when they greet each other shaking hands. last time was under different circumstances and they've been in hey new york state of mind for the last 24 to 48 hours since continuing to attack one another with same comments they did on the debate stage at hofstra university a short time ago. romney spending his day preparing for the speech and the next debate which of course is the foreign policy debate in florida on monday. but these debates, actually resonate, especially for romney, potential they hope for him to seem loose and seem like that relaxed guy that they believe romney advisers believe he is who can make a connection with people. the comedic hour, as it were, plays better to the president than mitt romney and that's why they're spending extra time preparing right now. >> a little of a flurry because tag romney, who as you know better than anyone, has take

ain't leadership role in the campaign among the brothers, gave a radio interview and jokingly signaled what some of the tension felt like in watching that debate from the family seats at hofstra. >> that's right. we can play that audio for you, i think perhaps as well? let's take a listen to that quickly. >> jump out of your seat and rush down the debate stage and take a swing at him but you know you can't do that well, first because there's a lot of secret service between you and him but because it's the nature of the process. >> so we -- josh romney was on "the view" and defended his brother. let's play that. >> you don't like to see your dad get beat up by the pleada or president obama and you take it personally. i think that was something he was saying off the cuff and i assure you he didn't mean it. >> you've done interviews with all of them, traveled with all of them. your take? >> reporter: i think they're five good guys who have been put in a unique position as a result of this but recognize the

scrutiny they're under. we spoke about that when i sat down with the five of them several months back. i reached out to the campaign after tagg's comments and said he was joking how frustrating this process can be for a family. they do know, as well as anybody, that they are under the microscope. december of last year matt romney made an off the cuff birther remark that blew up quickly. the boys in general have been careful about what they say, has allowed them to show less personality perhaps than sometimes people would like to see from them but they've been big surrogates for their dad. tagg romney yuz was in new hampe and they're hoping they can be that conduit for their father to the younger audience, as much as anything else. >> thanks so much, peter alexander. enjoy that al smith dinner. paul ryan holding a rally in ocala, florida. ron mott is on the phone from the rally. how than crowd? >> reporter: i hope you can hear me, andrea.

it's very loud here. a line of obama supporters about two, three dozen people trying to disrupt congressman ryan while he's holding a town hall here in ocala. the standard stuff we've heard, five-point plan for a stronger middle class. i suspect at the end of the town hall he's going to make a more impassioned plea to get folks out if any of his staff told him about a "miami herald" story showing the republicans so far absentee voting are holding on to a five-point lead. it's early in the process. they've got roughly 500,000 votes in so far. another 1.8 million absentee ballots requested. democrats in the state are saying this is traditionally republican territory, these absentee ballots. they believe the democrats, that they will make up whatever difference, whatever loss they are suffering at this point. early in person voting starts, that starts a week from saturday, 27th, runs a week to october 3rd and we've got the

big final third debate on foreign policy here in boca raton on monday. we'll have to see and watch these ballots as they stream in next week whether the republicans will increase that lead. the reporting in the "miami herald" today, they're saying that the three largest areas where the ballots are coming back from are in miami-dade, in tampa st. pete and the interstate 4 corridor, which is the swing part of the state. this is where paul ryan and mitt romney spent the bulk of their time from daytona beach to the tampa st. pete corridor. a lot of -- a lot left to say, money left to spend in florida for both campaign as they try to win the crucial state, andrea. >> thanks ron mott. absentee ballot have been heavily weighted toward the military, especially tampa st. pete, in the past at least the military has been predominantly republican.

certainly was in the mccain years. unclear whether it will be in this campaign as well. now to president obama and the white house. the president just wrapped april rally in manchester, new hampshire. he and vice president biden dressing theired av advocacy fo equal pay and contraception. kristin welker joins us from the white house. you were with the president yesterday. one of the big themes. they think they gained some advantage after losing in some of the polls the gender gap, at least one poll, may have been an outlier, looked after the denver debate a narrowing of the gender gap, which had been very much in the president's favor. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, andrea. the polls a little bit murky. one of them after that first debate really showed mitt romney narrowing that gender gap. "usa today" gallup poll showing that romney and president obama were tied in key battleground states when it comes to women voters. our latest nbc news/"wall street

journal" poll shows president obama with a double-digit lead in some key swing states including ohio, florida, virginia. look there's no doubt that the obama campaign is vigorously trying to make up for some of that potential lost ground. you heard president obama seizing on the binders comment when he was on the trail in ohio and iowa yesterday and today in new hampshire. i was on the trail with him, andrea, this was really the buzz yesterday. some of the women who spoke before the president spoke referenced the binders comment. one woman a rabbi said she woke up thinking about what type of joke she would make when it come to binders comment. she debated a couple of things like i might leave my invocation speech in the binder or i was glad i wasn't pulled out of romney's rabbi binder to speak but then i realized it's not a joke and that response got a lot of applause from the audience. probably worked with the campaign on that. but andrea, all of this is to say the obama campaign senses a

bit of an opening, as you said, after this week's debate. they are trying to seize on it, trying to make up some potential lost ground. 2008 women made up 53% of voters. whoever wins this year is going to need a lot of women on their side. andrea? >> thanks so much, kristin welker at the white house. out in ohio, the boss is singing a campaign song that he's written for barack obama. it's called "forward." ♪ >> this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. i'm only in my 60's...

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♪ in the squares of the city in the shadow of the steeple near the office i've seen my people ♪ ♪ sum are grumbling some are♪ >> the obama team in ohio pushing back hard with the help of bruce springsteen and bill clinton against criticism of mitt romney's record on women's issues. the romney campaign argues that women care most about the economy and that mitt romney is the better candidate to help their lives. >> this president has failed america's women. they've suffered in terms of getting jobs. they've suffered in terms of falling into poverty. >> joining me now is stephanie cutter, president obama's deputy campaign manager and there for the boss' concert. i know you're having a good time. sorry to take you away from

that, stephanie, for a moment but talk about the whole fight over undecided women voters and the romney campaign is arguing that the economy, you know, has suffered under president obama and that women would be better off with mitt romney at the helm. >> reporter: well, andrea, you know, a couple of things. president inherited the worst economy in our lifetimes and he's been rebuilding it. 5.2 million jobs highest consumer confidence in the last five years lowest foreclosure rate in the last five years and has a plan on the table that will move the country forward including women. that stands in stark contrast to mitt romney. as the president said the other night, he only has one step two his economic plan and that's a tax cut for those at the top, raising taxes on the middle class. and that's something that women across the country can't afford. yes, the economy is the number one issue for women. but the other issues that they don't want mitt romney involved

in, whether it's their contraception or the ability to make their own health care decisions, those issues are weighing on the race significantly and there's a big reason there's a gender gap. >> mitt romney said during the debate that he is in favor of access for contraception and they have a new advertisement today up saying that he believed in exceptions for the life of the mother, for rape and incest. in other words, for a softer anti-abortion stance than certainly we heard from him during the primaries. does that neutralize that issue. >> we have 19 days left. absolutely not. because unfortunately he has six years of a record that women across the country know. you know he says he's not for outlawing abortion. that's just not true. he's on videotape in a republican debate saying he would sign legislation that

would put an end to roe v. wade. through the republican primaries a few months ago he firmly supported what is so-called the blunt amendment which is what puts employers, bosses, in charge of the ability for women to get contraception through employer health care plans. i understand why they're putting that on in the -- ad on in the air but it's no resemblance to his record. we'll make sure women across the country know that. >> i interviewed katharine fenton yesterday the 24-year-old woman who asked both candidates about equal pay and about inequities in employment. and listen to this because she felt that, despite the president's support and the fact that he signed the lilly ledbetter act she felt that neither candidate were addressing her, that in fact both candidates during that debate were talking talking their talking points but not addressing the people who questioned them. just listen to this. >> you know i can say that i felt -- can't say my question

was answered by either candidate explicitly. i was trying to elicit a response to indicate what plans they'd have for the future in order to rectify inequalities and i feel rather than that response i got more of either diversion to a different discussion or a laundry list of things that they have already done for women in the past. >> is that a fair criticism? it seemed as though the president was so eager to go through the list of things some of which 47%, other issues he had not addressed in denver, that he didn't really connect with the people asking him the questions. >> well, i disagree with that andrea. i think the result of the debate prove that to be incorrect. and in terms of her question, you know i think the president was trying to get across that he understood the problems with pay and inequality for women across the country. he's the son of a single mother, he watched his grandmother get

bypassed for promotions at her bank because he was a woman. the first bill he signed into law was the lilly ledbetter paycheck fairness act. in terms of what he would do for the future, there's a bill pending in congress that would help close the inequality gap for women. the president firmly stands behind that bill. that also stands in contrast to mitt romney who doesn't support lilly ledbetter. we just learned that. they didn't support lilly ledbetter. and he hasn't taken a position on the pending legislate for paycheck fairness. i think that the american people, women across the country, and i think that women at the debate understands it was a real difference in terms of the two candidates, the real choice in this election between who is committed to closing that gap and who is not. so i -- we're pleased with the results. i am sorry that she feels that way. i hope we can make it up. >> stephanie cutter. it's the first time you've played with bruce. pretty cool. >> yes. >> stephanie cutter and the e

street band. thanks for joining us from ohio. what do women want? hear from the romney campaign, their proposals. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. former model and analyst created a fashion marketplace that helps local boutiques that don't have their own e-commerce sites sell on line. she knows content sells and launched a companion online magazine as an ultimate source for what's in. watch "your business" sunday mornings 7:30 on msnbc.

>> in new hampshire today president obama challenged mitt romney to explain where he stands of the lilly ledbetter act which the governor so far refused to say whether he supports. >> i don't know why this is so complicated. governor romney still won't say whether or not he supported a law to protect that right. >> join me now is romney campaign senior adviser. i think the campaign's put out a statement, the romney campaign, that he wouldn't repeal it, didn't support the lilly ledbetter act, wouldn't have signed it if he had been president when it was passed in 2009 but would not repeal it if

he becomes president? >> it's important to understand equal pay for equal work for women has been the law since 1960s. sometimes people forget it's the law. the lilly ledbetter act -- >> starting. >> that was a legal issue that was trial lawyers and issues. but for the -- the fact is look what mitt romney has done. and that's what he talked about at the debate. and i was sitting there with the lieutenant governor of massachusetts -- >> who we met on the show yesterday. >> right. and carrie and i watched as mitt romney discussed how he sought out women, wanted a bigger selection of women to choose and ended up he wanted to pick the best people, the best people happened to be half of the senior staff were women including his chief of staff, including lieutenant governor and half of the top spots. he walks the walk. he doesn't just talk the talk. i've worked with him since 2006. his chief of staff, beth meyers

came and sought me out and he hired me. when i first met him at 2002 the olympics it was clear he had a lot of women working with him. he had meg whitman a huge successful businesswoman had her start at bain and company. this is somebody who walks the walk and believes in empowering women. that's why you're seeing gender gaps close. the gender gap between the women's vote is much closer now while the men gender gap, romney is leading by double digits now, while the women's, you know, it's within a few points. i think that's because women, the number one issue for them is the economy. and that's what we all hear. >> the narrowing of the gender gap, pointing out in the previous couple of minutes ago in the previous segment was one poll and some say it's an outlier. >> a couple now, rasmussen and the gallup poll has shown that. >> but the other issue is, does he really talk the talk because

of the binder comment. when you were sitting there, you heard him say that. did you laugh? did you wince? did you notice? >> no, i was -- as i said i was watching it with carrie and we knew what when was talking about he wanted more resumes and women. >> political action group in massachusetts, the organization had presented binders to both candidates to shannon o'brien and mitt romney and said, we have this -- these lists, these resumes of women who are qualified, eager for jobs, consider them for your cabinet. >> he made a commitment, both of the candidates made a commitment. >> but their argument is they presented these. he didn't come to them seeking it out. they presented it to him as they did to the democrat who is running against him. >> he made the commitment he was going to and he wanted more. that's what carrey heelly was talking about she was going through and that's what you'll see with a mitt romney administration, somebody who

wants to go out and have a bigger pool of applicants, more people and it so happens when he picks the best people he can find, which he's very good at doing, half of them, senior spots -- people talk about hiring women and then they aren't in the senior spot they're in the number two spot, they're not in the number one spots, they're in the mid level spots they don't end up at the top -- with mitt romney you have his campaign last go around beth meyers, female campaign leader. david axelrod, david fluff, jim mussina, they're running the show day-to-day. beth meyers he put in charge of the vp selection, something a gray beard, an older guy, you've seen that decades for with the democrats. mitt romney trusted this adviser to do that. people are focusing on the economy and that's where women -- that's why your seeing the closing gap there with women because that's their number one priority for themselves, their kids.

couples are worried about the increased taxes. >> lilly ledbetter an acknowledged supporter of barack obama was on with lawrence last night. let me play this for you. >> when he stated that the woman he did have working, she had to go home at 5:00 because she had to cook dinner, that just echoed in my den where i was watching the television. i couldn't believe he would make a statement like that. >> i mean for lilly ledbetter he this yuz nwas not a legal issue. she was not permitted to sue for equal pay because the stat statute ran out and if you didn't know the men you were working and with were making more money, which many offous don't know, we don't have access -- >> we know here at msnbc guys get paid more. >> we certainly do. >> so this is one of the places where you need to be more public with it. >> you know women would be able to sue even after the statute had run out. it's an economic issue.

>> listen, i totally disagree with her interpretation of it, though. what the situation was, is mitt romney went to beth meyers and said, i want you to be my chief of staff. i want to have you in my administration. and she said, here are my parameters how i want to work. can you work with that? he said absolutely. she wanted -- >> you're saying -- >> but that reaction that she had -- that's -- >> a lot of young women who i've heard from in the last 48 hours were offended by that, by that idea that you need flex time because you've got to be the little woman running home making dinner. >> the deputy chief of staff for mitt romney was a man who had young children and that flex time extended to them. this is a family-friendly environment. what he did -- this is a man -- >> i'm saying that's not what he said that night. >> i can tell you, when you watch how women reacted to that in realtime which lilly ledbetter and other women, they have a left wing agenda they're trying to make an issue of a

statement that women didn't respond that way and that i understand there may be partisan responds that way but real women in the working world appreciate male and female bosses who accommodate their schedules and time and you know, i've been in jobs where i've worked around the clock but often the working around the clock has been i have to get home with the kids at a certain time, then when they go to bed i continue working. i appreciated a boss who didn't need to have me there at the desk counting the hours every time and that's what mitt romney understands. he's somebody who when a colleague's child went missing he closed down the entire office, took them all to new york, and searched for that child. that's what he was talk about. i think that's what women responded to. a man who understands that you've got to deal with people and their whole family situation. if you want to have good workers, you're sensitive like that and that's what he's always been and he's walked that walk. that's where you're going to see in the white house with him and his administration. and he's a fabulous person to work with. that's why you see women, his

deputy campaign manager's a woman. they're work horses. they're not the show horses bragging on what they're doing, general counsel in the campaign's woman. most senior leadership in the campaign are women and the guy who heads it up matt rhodes, worked with both me and beth meyers and he hires all women because he knows that's who gets the job done. >> can't disagree with that. >> you get after msnbc here, andrea. make sure the women make the same here. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> coming up, another lone wolf terror plot against one of the most important economic targets in america. the latest on the investigation next. anncr: every president inherits challenges.

few have faced so many. four years later... our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home. assembly lines are humming again. there are still challenges to meet. children to educate. a middle class to rebuild. but the last thing we should do is turn back now. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

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the stings. how serious a plot was this. >> the fbi would tell you serious, he came here with intention to carry out some jihadist attack. they would say that look at all of the thing his did before even got in touch with fbi undercover agent. one, they came to the united states intending to carry out an attack. after going southeast missouri state he decided to come back to new york, come to the new york area, and then number three, he reached out and tried to find people who would help him which was his downfall because he did it on facebook and the interthreat, somewhat ironic for a student who came to the united states to study cybersecurity. and that's how he got connected up with the fbi informant and they channeled his energies into something they knew he could do no damage because they would be in control and watching everything that he did. but the problem is, always, in a case like there is, you know, people say why didn't you just watch him? that's incredibly manpower intensive. suppose you're the fbi, you find out there's somebody who

genuinely wants to kill people, doesn't care whether women and children, how many are killed as long as they make a political statement. what if they slip out of your control and do hook up with someone who can give them real explosives? no one would be happy with that. the fbi says if somebody's that willing and take those steps we don't have any choice. >> no greater symbol than the new york fed. the new york fed is the institution that coordinates all banking activities and especi especially wall street. it's the point of contact with the major banks. it was the key intermediary in all of the 2008-2009 fiscal crisis negotiations. so the new york fed is the major institution. in washington, this is the biggest target there is. >> sure. it wasn't his original target. he didn't know what he wanted to do at first. he spouted off at one point wanting to try to kill the president. he spent some time looking in the new york stock exchange

first and decided that that would be too hard to carry off an attack there, and that's when they decided to go to the new york fed. >> this is widely known that the all of the gold is stored i guess whatever's not in ft. knox -- >> they say so on their website. >> underneath the new york fed. remember "diehard 3." thank you very much. the war over women next. a little more coming up with our panel on "andrea mitchell reports." [ male announcer ] your mouth is cleanest after the dentist. but between check-ups tartar builds. keep it clean with new listerine® ultraclean™. it's the only mouthwash with a new tartar control formula for a dentist clean feeling. ahhhhhhhh. [ male announcer ] new listerine® ultraclean™. power to your mouth™. [ male announcer ] new listerine® ultraclean™. my name is adam frucci and i'm the i love new technology,om. so when i heard that american express and twitter were teaming up, i was pretty interested. turns out you just sync your american express card securely to your twitter account, tweet specific hashtags, and you'll get offers on things you love. this totally changes the way i think about membership.

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at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. seeing a new opening they see with voters the obama campaign has been mocking mitt romney's awkward statement about hiring women. joining plea now, margaret carlson arc i bloomberg view columnist. first you, lois, since you're in new york, where we've had you know a lot of pushback from the romney campaign. what are you hearing from the romneys? we saw ann romney on "the view"

and know that mitt romney's at the al smith dinner tonight. >> well, the romney campaign sees an opening. you were talking about the poll a few minutes ago. i don't know that that poll is really 18 points, that he was able to close an 18-point gap. i know that there has to be some movement of women towards him because of the way the campaigns both campaigns are acting. and they're in a frenzied fight for the women's vote which tells me the gap is closing. and if that's true that's problematic for president obama because he needs that constituency desperately to win. it would be as if mr. romney were to lose the white man's vote. so this is a very intense fight. the obama campaign wants it on the economy, which is what barbara comstack said. they want it on abortion and lilly ledbetter and that's where they're bumping up against one another. >> now, in fact, bruce springsteen, margaret, was just speaking and playing in ohio

with bill clinton. and this what is he had to say about the whip's issue. . >> i'm here today because i'm concerned about women's rights. i don't have to tell you -- i don't have to tell you the dangers to roe vs. wade. >> you've got bill clinton and bruce springsteen and margaret, clearly, a concentrated effort former romney advisers and aides, women out in iowa on a bus trip. it's pretty intense. >> very intense. and part of the -- what happens going on is the atmospherics of who do women think is for them? when you look at bill clinton and bruce springsteen, together, that suggests they're pro-women, always in favor of equal pay for equal rights, the roe v. wade. when you look at mitt romney, this is what came across in that mixed answer to a question at the debate, which is he looks like don draper of "mad men" and

reminds women of a certain age of a boss who would pat you on the head and say, there, there, leave it up to me but when you did it didn't work out so well. this closing of the gap, i think, is in part because women say, i don't feel that threatened on roe v. wade. i feel threatened by the fact i don't have a job. and so this is an opening for republicans to close that gap. they've used it, remember in 2010, for the first time in many years, democrats lost the female vote. so the gap widened again in the presidential but it would be closing some anyway, but i think the more the romney campaign is able to get it away from the blunt amendment and your boss is going to be able to decide whether your insurance policy coves are contraception, which most of them do, that's -- that so favors the romney campaign because he -- he comes across as someone who is -- he's not going to protect your rights but he might get you a job. >> lois, barbara comstack pushed

back hard, talking about her own experience, flex time, family-friendly atmosphere working for mitt romney but the way mitt romney phrased it in in that debate where he talked about the woman who needed to get home to cook dinner that did rez nate with a lot of women who i spoke to. >> let me suggest another way women could have suggest anothen could have heard it. you know, women who decide to have families and kids and a care career, women today take on a second career. it's very hard. in some cases husbands help, but mostly women take on the burden. maybe some women heard it that way. whether you're a ceo or waitress, you think this guy understands. if i want to have a real hard-charging career, he'll let me do something like that. maybe some women heard that, but the obama campaign is not going to let up. they have another ad today basically calling romney a liar

on abortion and using clips that they know he wants to overturn roe v. wade. he's dead set against abortion. you'll see a tense, escalating battle up to election day for this voting block. >> videotape can be as we know edited out of context. >> this is one of who is the real mitt romney and he wants mod operates and independents to think he's winking about that issue and he's not going to do anything about it. in fact, he said a couple of weeks ago, there's no legislation out there. i'm not going to do anything. i think as lois said, it's about the atmosphere, which is, we want flextime. i used to leave my jashgt on the back of the chair no matter how cold it was outside when i had to run out and do something family-related. we don't want. >> that is for sure. thank you very much. >> what political story will

make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next right here on "andrea mitchell reports."

in 24 hours we look at the dinner and we'll have it tomorrow. everything that we can glean from what barack obama and mitt romney say at that dinner tonight. it should be interesting, he is special laf that really contentious debate. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." my colleague, tamron hall, has a look at what's next coming up on "news nation." >> hi, tamron. >> great to see you. in the next hour in las vegas there's no rest for the candidates. later tonight, as mentioned, president obama and governor romney will both appear at the legendary al smith dinner in new york where they're supposed to go from throwing bows to jokes at each other, which could

not awkward considering by all accounts these meent do not and why some pro-life activists tried to get the president uninvited. speaking of not liking someone, why one of the romney boys would say that he was prepared to slug after making that comment. on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you.

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i'm tamron hall. the "news nation" is following the countdown to another face-off this evening between president obama and governor mitt romney. you did not miss some new debate in the works. both appear in new york in a few hours at the al smith dinner. it's supposed to be a light-hearted event days after the tense debate we watched. the audience has high-ranking catholics including the archbishop of new york.

he received stacks of e-mails from pro-life activists urging him to uninvite the president. it's issues like women and contraception that the president is hitting hard today in hopes of breaking what seems to be governor romney's momentum. >> by the way, we want our sons to thrive in math and science and engineers, but we also want our daughters to thrive in those fields, too. we don't have to order up binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women who can learn and excel in these fields right now. and when these young women graduate, i want them to receive equal pay for equal work. >> also today a group of women who served under governor romney during his time as the governor of massachusetts, they're now on a bus tour through iowa talking